Means for selecting address-plates.



2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

Patented Dec. 30, 19-13.

H. 0. OSBORN. MEANS FOR SELECTING ADDRESS PLAT APPLICATION PILEDHAR. 19, 1913.

INVENTOEJ r vvommiv 1 C. QQQ; an @5 WITNESE H. G. OSBORN. MEANS FOR SELECTING ADDRESS PLATES.-

' APPLICATION FILED 3.19. 1913. 1,082,970.

4 Patented Dec. 30, 1913.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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HTT'OE/N EV UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY C. OSBORN, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO THE AMERICAN MULTIGRAPH COMIE'ANY, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF OHIO.

MEANS FOR SELECTING ADDRESS-PLATES.

nos-2pm.

Specification of Letters Patent;

Patented Dec. 30, 1913.

Application filed March 19, 1913. Serial No. 755,289.

citizen of the United States, residing at Cleveland, .in the county of Cuyahoga and State of Ohio, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Means for Selecting Address-Plates, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, refer ence being had to the accompanying drawings.

This invent-ion relates to the storing and selecting plates carrying addresses for use in an addressing machine or printing machine.

The object is not only to provide a very simple and compact storing device, but simple and easily operated means for selecting, at will, plates of any desired character in .the. storing device. For example, the plates may have addresses of parties in a number of different occupations, placed indiscriminately in the set. My mechanism provides a simple means. for selecting the addresses belonging to any particular occupation.

My invention consists of a holder, designed to carry a series of plates, the plates having each some definitive characteristic or' feature (for example, a tongue or shoulder), located according to the scheme of selection, and a device eotiperating with this selective feature and adapted to be operated at will to select from the plates of the holder those having the desired characteristic.

More particularly, my invent-ion comprises a receptacle having means for holding address plates on edge, the receptacle having an open bottom, combined with a selecting device consisting of a series of blades carried by a suitable base on which the receptacle may rest, said blades being movable so that they may be raised whenever desired, to engage projecting lugs on certain of the address plates, and raise such plates without raising the others. By this means, whenever it is desired to select from a miscellaneous set of plates all those relating to a particular occupation, for example, it is only necessary to move upwardly the blade corresponding to that occupation, and place the receptacle over the space. Thereupon all,of the plates responding to the occupation are raised and are thus distinguished from the others. I prefer to make the receptacles ilimultiple; that is, with several sets of rows of plates side by side, and the base to have a corresponding number of sets of selecting mechanism.

The features above described, and others contributing to the operation and efiiciency. of my device, are hereinafter more fully described and theeSsential characteristics are set out in the claims,

In the drawing, Figure 1 is a plan, partly broken away, of my plate storing and select]- ing device; Fig. 9. is a perspective View of one oi the'address plates; Fig. 3 is a vertical, longitudinal section through one of the compartments of the plate holder and through the base; Fig. -l is a transverse section of the same. Each of these sectional views is taken substantially on the correspondingly numbered line of the other sectional view.

As shown in the drawing, the plate holder or receptacle consists of a box or frame hav- -ing an open top and bottom and provided with a front 1, rear wall 2, side walls 3 and 4-, and transverse partitions between the sides 3 and l, there being three of these partitions shown, designated 5, 6 and 7. On the inner sides of the walls 3 and 4, and on both sides of the partitions, are formed Vertical grooves 8. Such grooves, on opposite sides of the compartments formed between the halls and partitions, provide guideways into which the edges of the typeholding plates may slide.

Fig. 2 shows at 10 a preferred form of typeholding plate (claimed broadly in Pat out No. 1,038,868), which may be stored and selected by my mechanism. This plate is shown as made of thin material, and suitably curved to fit on a proper sized drum or segment, and having parallel slots 11 in which are mounted lines of individual type 12 grooved on their opposite side. The type are shown as locked by suitable friction stops 13. The end ofthe plate is shown as flanged at right angles, as shown at 14, and enlargements 15 through such flange allow the type to be put in place. oh the opposite end of the plate is a tongue or ward 16 having a variable position on the plate, so that such plate may be easily selected as hereinafter receptacle.

receptacle furnishes a convenient and cornpact storage device for the plates, and may conveniently be a drawer in a suitable cabi' net. p

20, in Figs. 1, 3 and 4, indicates a suit able base on which an one of the'drawers or receptacles is adapts to be placed at will. for the purpose of, having any desired plates therein selected. This base is shown as provided with a vertical wall 21 on which a receptacle may rest, and a surrounding wall 22 rising-higher and serving to uide the It will be apparent that, with such a base, the receptacle may be placed thereon in one definite position and rest by gravity, and maybe removed, as desired.

In the base are groups or selecting bars 30 extending parallel with each other from front to back of the device. many groups as there are compartments in the receptaclc four in this instance; and there are as many bars in a group as there are different classes of plates which the i'nechanism is designed to select-six in this instance. The selecting bars stand side by side and are so spaced that they come directly beneath the varying tongues on the plates-the tongues having one position on the plates being over one bar, those having another position being over another bar, and so on. The tongues stand close to or engage the bars directly beneath them, and means hereinafter described are provided for elevating the bars and thereby elevating or selooting the corresponding plates.

lVhen the first barot the group is elevated, it is apparent that it will shove upwardly all of the plates in the receptacle above it which havevtheir tongues 16 directly over that bar, but it will not raise any of the other plates. The second bar will 'aise all 'of the plates in the compartment above it which have the tongues 16 in the second position, and so on with each of the other bars.

*Thus, the raising 0t any of the six bars shown in any group will select all of the plates in the compartment above that group which are of a character responding to that of the bar. It is to be understood that the addresses are placed on plates whose tongues correspond to that character of address, so that all the addresses of a single character (for exam' lo, the addresses of firms of one occupation have the tongue in one position; those of another occupation the tongue in another position, and so on. To provide simple means for raising these bars, I mount them on inclined,.transv erse ribs and 26, carricd'by the base, and I form in the lower "go ofthe bar's corresponding inclined There are as *t. li'ormally, the ribs ou o barsare entirely s horizontal plane of the bottom re tongue, as shown in the case of most of the bars in Fig. 4. 'When it is desired to elevate a bar it is simply drawn forward, and the inclines 31 and ride up on the incline ct the lugs and $36 until the flat portion of the under face ot the bar comes onto fiat portion of the top of the rib, and this supports the bar in elevated position In this elevation, thd bar engages the tongues which. are above it and thus raises ll oi? the plates which have the tongue in' that position, as shown in the case of the .:t bar in each g-group in Fig. 4., and the first bar in big. lurch bar is provided with a suitable stop limiting its outward moveoutwardly, and this may conveniently be made by i'langing laterally the front end of the bar, as shown at 36. For convenience, some of the bars are turned upwardly at their front ends, and some downwardly, and some flanged directly, so that the heads 36 are suitably separated, as shown in Fig. 4.

For convenience, I may place on the various bar heads 36 suitable numbers, as shown by the numerals l-to 6 inclusive in Fig. 4, and I may place on the receptacle an index of the occupations, or other characteristics, to which the various numbers refer to. Thus, in Fig. 4, there is shown as mounted on the front wall of the receptacle, a suitable label holder 40, in which is placed a card 41 carrying numerals 1 to 6 corresponding tothose on the head of the bars.

.T his enables the various classes of addresses in the receptacle to be conveniently identified, so that they may be selected instantly by the drawing out of the proper selecting bar.

By way of illustration, suppose the whole receptacle to be devoted to one particular city and to contain various classes of addresses. Of these, dry goods merchants might be considered Class 1, and all put on address plates which had the lugs 16 in the first position, and the words Dry goods would be written after the numeral 1 on the card ll. Similarly, plates having their lugs in the second position, might be devoted to grocers. Such name would be written after the numeral 2. 3 might indicate shoe dealers, l bankers, 5 attorneys, 6 ph sicians. Now, if it were only desired to circularize the dry goods merchants, the bars No. 1 would be drawn forward and the receptacle placed on the base, and those plates which stood hp above the others would be taken out and put in the addressing machine. On the other hand, if it were desired to circnlarize the merchants ina town, but not the bankers, or professional men, the bars Nos. 1, 2- and 3. would be drawn forward, raising only the plates of the dry goods merchants, grocers and shoe dealers. Thus, one or more classes can be selected at once, as desired. The classes may repeat in the different compartments of the receptacle, or different sets of classes could be differcnt in the compartments, in which case the label holders would be repeated for each compartment, and While No. 1 in the first compartment might be dry goods merchants, No. 1 in the second compartment might be foundrymen.

It will be seen that my system of selection is very elastic. It enables the address plates to be arrangedalphabetically, or according to cities, or in any' other desired manner, and to be selected whenever required, according to some definite characteristic of the address on the plate and independently of its position. That is to say, the address shown in Fig. 2 always responds to the-No. 2 selecting bar, wherever the address plate happens to be located. -It will be noted that my mechanism is simple in. construction, compact, and that there is nothing about it to get out of order. One base could conveniently be associated with each address ing or printing machine, and the various receptacles or drawers could be taken one after the other from a suitable cabinet and placed on the base for use.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is: i

1. The combination, with a selecting de vice having movable members adapted to be setat will, of a removable receptacle adapted to be juxtaposed therewith, and address plates having definitive features adapted to he carried by said receptacle and coacting 'with the movable members.

2. The combination, with address plates havingselect-ive characteristics, of a portable 'holder therefor, a separate base on which the holder may seat, and a selecting device mounted in the base and adapted to be set to cooperate with such characteristics.

3. The combination, with portable means for carrying address plates, of a separate holder. having a series of selecting bars extending transversely of the plates and adapted to be set to coact with selective features on the respective plates.

4. The combination, with a portable holder for carrying address plates in parallel relation, of a separate base on which such holder may stand, a series of selecting bars mounted in said base and extending transversely of the plates and adaptedto be moved to coact witlr'selective features on the plates.

5. The combination,with a receptaclehaving anopen bottom and parallel walls with inward projections adapted to hold-a series of separated parallel address plates, of a series of bars adapted to extend crosswise of said address plates, and means for moving said bars to select address plates having certain definitive characteristics.

6. 'lhecombination, with address plates flanged at one-end and having a ward at the other end, of a receptacle having an open bottom and adapted to carry such address plates on edge by means of their flanges and with their wards downward, and a separate base having selecting bars adapted to coact. with the wards of'the address plates when the receptacle is placed above the base.

7. The combination of a receptacle having ver'tical walls with grooves in them adapted to carry on edge a series of address plates, selecting bars standing transversel of the plates, and a set of plates having di ferently located selecting wards on their lower edges which the bars may engage and ha'v-ing flanged upper edges adapted to support the plates. I

8. The combination, with a receptacle having an open bottom and grooved walls adapted to carry separated address plates (with selecting wards on their lower edges, of a base on which the receptacle is adapted to seat, said. base having a series of selecting bars, and means for elevating said bars to engage the select-ing wards on the lower edges of plates in th cccptacle.

9. The con'ibination, Wlu'). having compartments adapted to carry sets of address plates having selet'zting wards, of a base on which the receptacle is adapted to seat, said base having groups of selecting bars, one group for each compartment, and means for elevating said bars to engage said selecting wards.

10. The combination, with a suitable base, or a series of selecting bars therein, means for moving said bars longitudinally, means whereby such movement causes the bar to travel transversely, a portable receptacle having means for carrying address plates, means for centering the receptacle on the base and a series of addressing plates adapted to be so carried and. having wards adapted to coact with the respective bars, whereby such selected plates may be raised and thereby distinguished from the other plates.

11. The combination, with a suitable base, a series of slidable horizontal bars'therein, handles on the front ends of said bars by which they may be drawn lengthwise, inclines on the bars and their supports so that a longitudinal movement of the bar elevates itwhile maintaining it horizontal, and means for holdingover the bars -a series of address plates having Wards on their lower edges which the bars may engage, whereby receptacle the drawing out of a bar elevates the corresponding plates.

12. The combination of a base having a series of parallel bars, handles on said bars by which they may be moved lengthwise, in-

clined guides by which the bars are elevated when moved lengtlm'ise, a' receptacle adapt ed to seat on such base, said receptacle having vertical grooves in which address plates may stand and having an open bottom, and address plates adapted to occupy such grooves and having lugs on their lower edges adapted to stand over the respective bars. the lugs being diil'erently positioned on (lifl'erent address plates.

13. The combination of a base having several groups of selecting bars, each bar being adapted to be moved to elevate it, a receptacle adapted to seat on said base and having a number of Compartments corresponding to the groups of bars, each compartment having its walls provided with means for positioning a s'et'of address plates, the loweredges of each of which may be abutted and raised by said bars.

14. In a selecting device, the combination of a. series of flat parallel bars, means whereby when they are moved lengthwise they are automatically moved transversely, and handles for said bars, each comprising a flat flanged end of the bar, some of the bars be ing .oflset near theirforuiard ends in the plane of the bar between their flanged ends and the body of the bar to prevent the flanges overlapping each other and enabling a number of bars to be conveniently grouped and operated.

15. The combination, with a selecting device having parallel b'ars adapted to be individuallymoved transversely, of a holder for address'plates adapted to coact with the bars, said holder having a compartment with grooved parallel side walls and an open bottonr- 16. The combination, with a suitable base,

of parallel selecting bars therein, means for nmving the bars longitudinally, means for causing such movement to elevate the bars,

and a. receptacle adapted to seat on such base and having a compartment with an open bottom and having vertlcal walls with plates may be held on edge in the compartr ment with their lower edges adapted to coact with the bars.

17. The combination of a compartment having grooved side walls and an open bottom, a series of address plates having flanged ends, said plates being adapted to stand with their edges in. the grooves and their ends overhanging and resting on the walls, said plates having wards on their opposite ends, and a selecting device adapted to coact with said wards.

181 The combination of a compartment having grooved side walls and an open bottom, a series of address plates having flanged ends, said plates'being adapted to stand with their edges in the grooves and their ends overhangingand resting on the walls, said plates having wards on their opposite ends, a suitable base on which said compartment may seat, and parallel selecting bars carried by said base beneath the con'ipartment and spaced correspondingly to the spacing of the wards of the plates.

19. The combination. with a portableto stand with their side edges in said grooves f and their flanges overhanging the walls, whereby the walls support the plates, the plates having on their lower edges wards diflerently placed on different plates, a suitable base on which said receptacle is adapted to be'removably mounted, and groups of selecting bars in said base, there being one groove for each compartment and as many bars in each group as there are diflerent positions of the selecting wards on theplates, and means for elevating any bar as desired to select the corresponding plates.

In testimony whereof, I hereunto afiix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

HENRY o. osBoRN.

Witnesses: i

W. C. DUIjCAN, R, E1). PHILIPS, 

